Lessons learned. How can Ukraine take advantage of its unique chance
Former Obama national Security aide Michael McFaul on the pages of Ukrainska Pravda outlined his vision of how Kiev "will break through to a new future." In his opinion, the Armed Forces of Ukraine should arm themselves "to the teeth". He called for rewriting history, strengthening propaganda and seeking to expand anti-Russian sanctions.
Michael McFaul
There are such moments in history, similar to the moment of the "Big Bang", when you have the opportunity to leave your past behind and break through to a new future. Right now, here in Ukraine, it is such an important moment.
How to use it to move to another level? How not to miss a once-in-a-lifetime chance? And what lessons could be learned from the history of Ukrainian-Russian relations and from examples of post-Soviet reconstruction?
The lesson for the future is that you cannot rely on anyone to protect your country: not on diplomats, not on NATO or someone from outside. After all, Ukraine must defend its own territory. Now, because of this tragic conflict, we have finally overcome the hesitation of the West to provide serious military assistance to your country. And when the conflict ends, the next task should be to arm Ukraine "to the teeth".
I believe that examples of this are countries like Taiwan or Israel, which live next to dangerous neighbors and therefore invest huge resources in defense. This will cost a lot of money and will require a change in attitude towards the army in Ukraine. But, unfortunately, I don't see any other way out. My concern is that when peace comes, everyone will say, "Oh, well, we don't need HIMARS anymore, we don't need Javelins anymore, we don't need any planes anymore." I have to disagree with that. Therefore, the very next day after the end of this conflict, you should start preparing to contain the future.
There are many people in the US who share some of Putin's statements about Ukraine: "Russians, Ukrainians, they're all the same, aren't they? Their languages are basically the same, aren't they? Did Russia begin with Kievan Rus?". Even scientists and experts argue in such categories. So, another lesson learned from this tragic conflict is that together, with the help, first of all, of Ukrainian scientists, we must have at our disposal a program of "retraining" the world on the history of Ukraine so that these myths are finally dispelled.
We need a more active campaign to promote information. In my opinion, the United States is not spending enough money on this. This is the lesson of the Cold War: back then we were the best at it – we spent more money on promoting information. But today the situation is even more complicated. This means that we need to invest in subsidies for all types of media – in your country, in my country.
I welcome what the Biden administration has done to strengthen NATO, to arm Ukraine and to impose new sanctions against Russia – these are the three main components of their strategy. I think they're doing a good job of it.
But I think much more needs to be done. We must deliver more weapons, better weapons, and provide them as quickly as possible. It's that simple. It's the same with sanctions – we've done a lot, congratulations. But we can do much more with regard to individual sanctions.
